


Mirage

by dangerliesbeforeyou



Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trapped
Genre: (look... idk what this is lol don't read this), (questionable), Established Relationship, Fluff, Heatwave, Humour, Insecure!TangYi, Insecurity, M/M, Minor Angst, Mirage - Freeform, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 21:23:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20442761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dangerliesbeforeyou/pseuds/dangerliesbeforeyou
Summary: The woes of wearing too many clothes when it's hot...Or, Tang Yi maybe experiences a strange mirage in the middle of a heatwave because he's Peak Dumbass(tm) lol





	Mirage

**Author's Note:**

> Lol um…
> 
> No idea what this is ngl… like I tried to go for ‘funny’ but it ended up kinda dark in the middle w/ a pinch of tangyi’s insecurities (cos that boy is full of Pain and Anguish but I still love him…) 
> 
> This was done as part of the h3trappedcollection’s august theme ‘heatwave’ which I managed to finish… like 2 days before the end of august (I started this at the start but like Life™ got in the way u kno??)... oops 
> 
> Anyway… hope u enjoy whatever tf this is???

It was the hottest summer on record, and everything across Taipei had slowed down to a slog to accommodate the heat. The streets were all but empty, air conditioning had been turned up to the highest setting in every building, and the swimming pools across the city were filled to the brim with locals and tourists alike, desperate to stay cool. 

Tang Yi stepped out of a taxi into the heat, immediately regretting his decision to continue wearing suits (but he did have a reputation as the Best Dressed Man of all Taiwan to maintain, weather be damned!), and swiftly made his way into his house, where, thankfully, it was icy cool. 

After composing himself for a few moments (because even a second out in the heat was enough to for several droplets of sweat to form on his forehead), he set about looking for his boyfriend. 

Said boyfriend wasn’t hard to find, given the best place to be in hot weather was a cool swimming pool. And sure enough, Tang Yi looked out across the garden at the pool to see the figure of Shao Fei bobbing up and down in the water. He wasn’t alone, however, as in the water was… Was that Hong Ye?!

Tang Yi raised his eyebrows in shock, watching as the two seemed to be laughing together, having fun, even? He knew his sister somewhat reluctantly cared for Shao Fei (despite having held some slight disdain for the police officer when they first met) which partly may have been linked to the fact she had been partly involved in almost getting him killed. But he never realised their friendship had reached this level!

It made him smile slightly, knowing that his sister had matured enough to play around like children in the pool.

About to go out, Tang Yi then noticed someone else immerge from the water between Hong Ye and Shao Fei. He wasn’t sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, so he rubbed them. The figure only came more clearly into view and only divulged to make Tang Yi even more confused. 

It was Andy. 

Andy, who had only come around to Tang Yi’s house a handful of times before, all of which were by his invitation. Tang Yi hadn’t even been aware he and Hong Ye were acquainted, but here they were, in his pool, splashing around like toddlers. 

It was at that moment that Tang Yi decided to step outside and demand an answer (although it might be too hot for that, so maybe a gentle interrogation would be more suitable…), not even bothering to remove his suit jacket.

Hit once again with the wave of disgusting heat, Tang Yi’s eyesight began to get muddled as he made his way towards the pool, where the 3 in it were still seemingly oblivious to his presence. 

He was almost at the edge of the pool when Shao Fei’s voice cut through his hazy state, his words strangely piercing to his ears in a way it had never been before.  
‘You really think I care that much about him?’ His boyfriend said, before throwing his head back and laughing. It was a strange sight and something Tang Yi was completely unfamiliar with. ‘Please, I’m only here because of the luxuries’

Despite the heat, Tang Yi’s blood ran cold. Was Shao Fei… talking about… him? 

Hong Ye piped up then, her voice also weirdly distorted by the heat, which had begun to swim around the edges of Tang Yi’s vision like the swirls on a Van Gogh painting. 

‘Here here!’ She grinned up at Shao Fei. They had both gotten so much closer to each other now that they were practically touching. ‘We should have just left him in prison, then we could have just run off together… I’m sure he would’ve gotten extra years from all the pining after you he’d have inflicted on all the other inmates!’  
‘His anger does get the better of him…’ Andy was speaking then, though it might have still been Hong Ye, Tang Yi really couldn’t tell anymore... ‘Really, how could he expect anyone to still love him after the stuff he’s pulled?’

He then felt more than saw their 3 pairs of eyes turn on him, the whites of them had gone strangely pink. Or maybe that was just the sky, which appeared to be on fire. Neither of these things startled him. 

He couldn’t take his eyes off Shao Fei, who was looking at him with a look of complete unforgiveness which he had never been inflicted with before. Even way before the blossoming of their relationship, there had always been a fire and passion in those wide eyes which had weirdly pulled him towards the police officer. But the gaze he was subjected to here was… Cold and blank…

‘Ah Fei…’ Was all he managed to croak out, his voice was high, almost like a child’s. 

He felt his legs give way and glanced down at his hands, which were suddenly scorched with harsh burns and bruises. 

He felt himself topple into the pool, which was also scalding hot. His skin felt like it was peeling off of him, his suit jacket constricting his chest, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe… He tried to tug at it, but felt himself slipping further into the water as the bottom of the pool’s floor began to sink down, down, down…

His lungs were filled with what felt like sand, the eyes of Shao Fei, Hong Ye and Andy staring at him through the murky water, each face graced with a maniacal grin. 

He tried to yell, but nothing came out. 

He felt himself fall further through the darkness of the water, breath growing weaker and weaker until he finally hit the bottom with a-

SLAP!

He was suddenly jolted from his sleep by Shao Fei, who was peering over him with a distressed look on his face, hand held high. Tang Yi groggily glanced around his surroundings, noticing he was lying on the pavement between his house and the taxi, whose driver was looking down at him with bemusement. 

‘What were you thinking?!’ Shao Fei half yelled, his voice piercing through the blinding headache Tang Yi hadn’t noticed before which had bloomed across his brow, causing him to wince. Shao Fei noticed his discomfort, and his tone softened as he continued. ‘You really scared me for a moment then… You kept screaming and screaming, and I thought… I thought I’d…’

He trailed off, his eyes betraying a slight glimmer of tears. He reached behind him and brought out a bottle of water, opening it and handing it to Tang Yi, who accepted it with an ungraceful lunge. His throat felt worse than sandpaper, the kind of dryness that felt like it had dried even the blood running through his veins.  
After drinking most of the bottle, breathing heavily as he felt it permeate across his mouth, Tang Yi gingerly brought his hand up to caress Shao Fei’s cheek gently, the latter closing his eyes and melting into the touch. 

‘Sorry…’ He muttered softly, thumb subconsciously rubbing small circles across Shao Fei’s cheekbone. ‘I really don’t know what happened… I was just coming home and was in the kitchen and then I-‘

He broke off abruptly as he remembered the scene he had witnessed in the pool, feeling himself blush. It had obviously been some bizarre, heat-induced mirage nightmare. He wasn’t sure if he was willing to expose his insecurities to Shao Fei yet, even though the other was looking at him with the kindest and most sympathetic expression, which Tang Yi could almost mistake as that of a puppy’s. 

‘Then…?’ Shao Fei probed gently. 

Tang Yi shook his head. ‘Doesn’t matter, it wasn’t real whatever it was…’ 

Shao Fei nodded and clasped both his hands round Tang Yi’s face, pulling him up into a short, closed mouth kiss.

Before he could remove his hands, Tang Yi held the back of his head and dived back into a more passionate kiss. Their lips slid together, soft but firm, their dry lips making the experience borderline uncomfortable, but Tang Yi was willing to put up with that in the moment. Shao Fei moved to sit more on top of him, his hands now going to circle round his shoulders, pulling them more tightly together. 

It was in that moment when Tang Yi heard the sound of boots scraping against gravel, causing him to pull swiftly away from Shao Fei and glance round to see the taxi driver attempting to move away quietly and quickly. He and Shao Fei exchanged a sheepish grin, before the latter got up to thank the driver for all his help. 

Tang Yi remained on the floor, the sun had seemed to be dimmed, and there was even what could be described as a soft breeze rippling through his hair.

Shao Fei was still chatting to the taxi driver (probably apologising for almost witnessing them going at it in the middle of the path) as Tang Yi pulled himself to sit up. His nightmare, the mirage, had been so real, that it scared him slightly… That feeling of inadequacy had remained in him since childhood. The feeling of being so afraid that those around him only remained out of want of personal gain, or protection or, even worse, their feelings of sympathy towards him. 

He knew Andy would just roll his eyes and joke about ‘oh of course I’m only friends with you for personal gain? I always get the best profits at the bar when you decide to grace us with your pretty face’ which he’d finish with a greasy wink of some kind. 

Hong Ye would glare at him, before beginning a 30 minute rant about how stupid he was, before finally pulling him down into a bone crushing hug (he really shouldn’t have bought those weights for her… God only knows how Dao Yi has still stuck around the miniature Hulk he had living with him).

And Shao Fei, well, Shao Fei would give him that soft, sappy look that he reserves for when Tang Yi was being particularly… ‘Tang Yi-y’ as he put it… And then he’d pull him into a hug (back hugs were his preference, though he was willing to wrap his arms around any part of Tang Yi he could get his hands on in the moment). He’d finally whisper to him how much he loved him, placing small pecks across his face, neck and hands, before pulling them into a hot kiss which would make Tang Yi forget even his own name…

So caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Shao Fei had plopped himself down beside him on the pathway, mirroring his posture. They glanced at each other, before Shao Fei moved closer to rest his head on his shoulder. It was technically still too hot for that, as Tang Yi could almost feel the other’s head burning its way through his shirt (he only now realised someone had removed his jacket and… thrown it into a bush several metres away??).

‘My jacket!’ Tang Yi spluttered, gesturing with his hand towards the crumpled fabric lying in the bush. ‘You know that’s one of the latest brands we brought into the shop? It’s worth about an arm and a leg, you know? Hand sewn in a small family run factory in France…’

He continued his rant, despite the fact Shao Fei had stopped listening basically as soon as he’d started talking, his eyes firmly closed, when he suddenly stopped.  
‘Wha’s it?’ Shao Fei slurred from his shoulder, sounding as is he had been snoozing. 

‘Shao Fei…’ Tang Yi began incredulously. ‘It’s raining!’ 

And sure enough, several cold droplets were falling from the small grey cloud which seemed to be hanging directly above them. Once Tang Yi had announced it, it seemed as if the flood gates burst and they were soon covered in a cool, refreshing sheet of rain. 

They both burst out laughing as they continued to get soaking wet, Tang Yi’s nightmare mirage completely forgotten.


End file.
